Life insurance

Both DH (dear husband) and I have life insurance coverage thru our works. In other threads it's often suggested that individuals have coverage NOT thru work or in addition to work. DR says term life insurance -- many other things I've read suggest whole life insurance.

Thoughts? What does your family do? Can I be on the same plan with DH? Do we each need our own? I'm 35 weeks pregnant now -- should I wait to apply until after baby arrives? Does it matter? Are there companies that are "better"?

MetLife quoted me "as little as $18.99" a month for a policy of $650,000. Is that "good"? I'm in BS2... should I have already figured this out or should I wait until another step?

Comments (9)

What does your family do? I have five times income thru work and supplemental of five times incomes for 30 year term in progress. I would like to add another $250k for a 10 year terms at some point.

Can I be on the same plan with DH? No (but you can have the same company if that matters to you) Do we each need our own? Yes.

I'm 35 weeks pregnant now -- should I wait to apply until after baby arrives? If it were me, No. Each day you wait exposes your family to greater risk. The proces takes abouyt 8 weeks, might as well get started.

Are there companies that are "better"? Yes, companies get "graded". My grandmother had two whole life policies (her poor decision to get whole life, not mine) and one company was a dream to file the claim with, one was not. The more difficult one is not graded A or A-. (not saying that is why, just an example)

MetLife quoted me "as little as $18.99" a month for a policy of $650,000. Met Life is not graded A or A- fyi. Not that you shouldn't go with them, just telling you. Increments of $250k are going to be priced bbetter. Try $500k or $750k. Is that "good"?

What does your family do? I have five times income thru work and supplemental of five times incomes for 30 year term in progress. I would like to add another $250k for a 10 year terms at some point.

Can I be on the same plan with DH? No (but you can have the same company if that matters to you) Do we each need our own? Yes.

I'm 35 weeks pregnant now -- should I wait to apply until after baby arrives? If it were me, No. Each day you wait exposes your family to greater risk. The proces takes abouyt 8 weeks, might as well get started.

Are there companies that are "better"? Yes, companies get "graded". My grandmother had two whole life policies (her poor decision to get whole life, not mine) and one company was a dream to file the claim with, one was not. The more difficult one is not graded A or A-. (not saying that is why, just an example)

MetLife quoted me "as little as $18.99" a month for a policy of $650,000. Met Life is not graded A or A- fyi. Not that you shouldn't go with them, just telling you. Increments of $250k are going to be priced bbetter. Try $500k or $750k. Is that "good"?

The idea behind having your primary policy through somewhere other than work is that oftentimes people lose their jobs when they're dying, and those policies become obsolete.Our plan is to get another $500,000 on DH, which is about 6 times his income. He already has $400,000 through work.We're at an impasse about how much to get on me, since I don't work. We have $100,000 right now. I think we need about $250,000 more, but DH (dear husband) doesn't.We'll probably get the policy on DH (dear husband) through our bank (he's military and they seem to handle that better than other options) but mine through somewhere, because it looks like it will be a little cheaper.Usually you can add a new policy with the same company without another health exam, so when DH (dear husband) separates from the military, we'll be able to add a policy to cover the difference in life insurance that he loses.We really need to start on this. I've gotten quotes, but haven't actually started the process yet.

No, I wouldn't wait until after you're done being pregnant. I can't imagine it will change much, unless your pregnancy is super high risk or something.

Whole life policies tend to be really terrible deals. They're basically savings accounts that you have the potential to put more money into than their worth.

Pregnancy can put a crimp in the health exam, especially if your pregnancy weight puts you into an "overweight" category; they don't adjust to pre-pregnancy, the weight on exam day is the weight they use.

--

Renee

Wife to Dave and mommy to Lydia (02/20/08), Benjamin (12/29/09), and Julia (05/17/12).

Pregnancy can put a crimp in the health exam, especially if your pregnancy w...

Posted
08/12/2015

Pregnancy can put a crimp in the health exam, especially if your pregnancy weight puts you into an "overweight" category; they don't adjust to pre-pregnancy, the weight on exam day is the weight they use.

Even if that's the case, better to get coverage in place now and reapply after baby is born and her weight is down to replace the coverage at lower cost. Having coverage for the birth would be ideal in case a tragedy happened during delivery.

OP, try a broker like Zander or SelectQuote to shop around for a good rate for you.

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Expat work from home mama toDS (4/10) didn't BF until 3 months oldDD (4/12) born in the car m/cs 12/08, 3/09 & 8/11

Pregnancy can put a crimp in the health exam, especially if your pregnancy w...

Posted
08/12/2015

Pregnancy can put a crimp in the health exam, especially if your pregnancy weight puts you into an "overweight" category; they don't adjust to pre-pregnancy, the weight on exam day is the weight they use.

This isn't true for all. We went through Select Quote and I ultimately ended up with American General Life Insurance, and they used my pre-pregnancy weight.

This isn't true for all. We went through Select Quote and I ultimately e...

Posted
08/12/2015

This isn't true for all. We went through Select Quote and I ultimately ended up with American General Life Insurance, and they used my pre-pregnancy weight.

Agreed. We went through select quote with agi and even though I was 5 weeks postpartum they use my prepregnancy weight although they did a balance comparison to see how much weight I gained during the pregnancy to make sure it wasn't extravagant.

This isn't true for all. We went through Select Quote and I ultimately e...

Posted
08/12/2015

This isn't true for all. We went through Select Quote and I ultimately ended up with American General Life Insurance, and they used my pre-pregnancy weight.

I also agree. I sell life insurance, and got additional coverage while pregnant. They used my pre-pregnacy weight, and let me use the blood, urine, and vitals from a previous plan I had set up the year prior.

OP, if you are in BS2, don't forget to add in all your debts ON TOP of the x # years of salary. (Some choose 6 years, I've also did ones for term of 18 years though since he wanted her to stay at home with the children through their school years. Just do what works for your situation)

For whole life, no need for that as long as the term plans you choose are convertible for the life of the term. If you still need coverage in 20-30 years, and have health issues then, a convertible plan wouldn't need new health qualifications.

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